The UK Court of Appeal this month handed down its long-awaited decision in Cartier International AG and others v British Sky Broadcasting Limited and others [2016] EWCA Civ 658, effectively paving the way for trade mark right-holders to bring website blocking injunction actions against internet providers who host infringing content. Website blocking orders are now…
DetailsVIRTUAL CURRENCY This week a judge in Florida ruled that Bitcoin is not actually money, stating that Bitcoin was not backed by a government or bank, and was not “tangible wealth”. “Virtual currency” is defined as the digital representation of value that can be traded digitally and functions as a medium of exchange, unit of…
DetailsPremier League Pub Penalties – Broadcast Restrictions The Football Association Premier League (FA) and Sky have pursued several pubs for illegally broadcasting Premier League matches to the public. The FA and Sky, with the help of the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), have taken both civil and criminal action against pubs and their entertainment suppliers…
DetailsFans of Faulty Towers will love this case from down under. The focus is whether an Australian Theatre company is infringing the intellectual property in ‘Faulty Towers’ concept which is owned by its creator John Cleese. The Australian show “Faulty Towers – the Dining Experience” has been running for year in a number of countries…
DetailsNo longer a threat when making IP threats The Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Bill was introduced into the House of Lords on 19 May 2016. The new provisions aim to amend the law relating to unjustified threats to commence proceedings for infringement of patents, trade marks, registered designs, design right and community designs. The bills…
DetailsThe leak of the Panama Papers highlighted an unprecedented disclosure of 11.5m files from the database of one of the world’s largest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca. The records were obtained by an anonymous source who shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. On 28 April 2016 the US House of Representative passed…
DetailsThe ongoing trade mark battle between Lacoste and Crocodile International has finally come to an end in New Zealand. The dispute regarding the crocodile logo had been going on between the two fashion giants in various jurisdictions around the world for decades. The case has now been dismissed by the Court of Appeal in New…
DetailsLitigation Funding Factors to Consider The range of commercial situations in which a legal dispute may arise is vast. Equally there are a range of commercial decisions which need to be made when legal disputes do arise. Not least of these is funding. The following deals with some of the factors that…
DetailsThe Assessment of damages- “the exercise of a sound imagination and the practice of the broad axe” The aim of damages, in relation to intellectual property rights infringement, is to put the injured party back into the position he would have been in, had there never been an infringement in the first place. There are…
DetailsGroundless Threats – the Reforms Following an investigation by the Law Commission the UK government recently published a press release on the issue of “groundless threats” in relation to patents, registered / unregistered design right and trade marks (copyright doesn’t have any threats provisions). The Problem Intellectual property rights are important to businesses. If they…
DetailsDon’t mention the war It may surprise you to read that under English law and unlike in the USA, there is no absolute right to keep personal information confidential. However, over the years, case law has developed to a point where, under certain circumstances, a person has the right to keep certain information private. Confidence…
DetailsAs part of a global body, 26 privacy regulators from across the world have surveyed 1,211 mobile apps to investigate the transparency of their privacy practices. Of those, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (the ICO) was responsible for studying 50 of the top apps released by UK developers. Out of the results, most notable was…
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